Fatigue: Finding the Cause of a Common Complaint

There has been a great deal written in the recent past about the effects of fatigue on resident work performance. Residency programs have had to incorporate a variety of mandates in relation to resident work hours, including a maximum of 80 hours worked per week, one day off on average in seven, no more than 24 consecutive hours providing direct patient care, among others. Fatigue, however, is not something unique to residents in training. In fact, it accounts for approximately 10 million visits a year to the primary care physician, with the majority being persons over age 50. I thought it ...